Devotional 12-23-18

Observations more than a Devotion

I recently read through the Nativity stories in both Matthew and Luke, the only Gospels which reported it, and was surprised at the gaps. Over the years, we Christians have added to the story, maybe for the sake of Christmas cards and pageants.

Matthew seems to focus on Joseph, who was visited by an angel four times in this narrative: 1. In a dream, an angel tells Joseph not to divorce Mary, that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit and the baby will be a boy he is to name Jesus. 2. Another dream angel tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt and stay till Herod’s death. 3. In another dream, an angel tells him that Herod is dead and go back to Israel. 4. One more dream angel tells him to go to Nazareth in Galilee, a good place to hide from Herod’s son Achelaus.
Matthew tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but does not mention why they were there,  where they came from, or a stable. He launches into the story of the Wise Men, but never mentions the number of them. Perhaps we decided on three because of the three gifts.

Luke’s focus is more on Mary, who lives in Nazareth. The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will have a baby via the Holy Spirit and she should name the boy Jesus. She goes to visit her aged, pregnant cousin Elizabeth whose baby leaps in her womb when Mary arrives. This scene contains the famous song of Mary or Magnificat. Mary returned to Nazareth and the Roman Emperor decreed a census so Joseph had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, his ancestral home, to be counted. Luke tells us he took Mary with him. (No mention of a donkey or the trip).

“While they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.” (Luke 2: 6-7). I guess we assume it was a stable because of the manger.

Then Luke launches into the story of the shepherds.

Eight days after the birth, the baby was circumcised and named Jesus.

At the purification offering and dedication of the baby at the temple in Jerusalem (if a first baby was a boy, he was to be dedicated to the Lord)  they met the two prophets Simeon and Anna.

“When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. (Luke 2:39).  (No mention of fleeing to Egypt).

Do the gaps and discrepancies make me not believe the story? NO! Different writers at different times. Matthew was written for the Jewish people while Luke, with a Greek background, was aimed at a gentile audience. Combining the two, we have a wonderful story of the birth of our Lord.

Anita Gardner Farrell